We’re honored that @mindydiamond sat down with us to discuss the industry landscape and share. Much gratitude for contributing to our industry knowledge and your relentless focus on the needs of the advisor.

MarketCounsel is excited to announce that it has selected the dynamic team at FiComm Partners as its public relations firm. We are enthusiastic about FiComm’s passion and dedication to both their core values and independent investment advisers. True harmony. We’re going to make a great team!

As discussed in InvestmentNews, at a recent pli conference, Chairman Mary Jo White said that she is pushing the SEC to make a decision on harmonization. Most of the discussion was about a uniform fiduciary duty. Ms. White said, “[w]e will intensify our consideration of the question of the role and duties of investment advisers and broker-dealers, with the goal of enhancing investor protection.” She also said that “the threshold issue is whether to proceed and what to proceed with, if so.”

Ms. White did not discuss her own position on the question. Commissioner Daniel Gallagher said that his issue on the uniform fiduciary duty is that “I don’t know what it is; that’s the problem. We don’t know if it’s a rollout of a pure Advisers act fiduciary duty to brokers. Is it harmonization? We have nothing before us on which even to indicate preference.”

New Commissioner Kara Stein says she has not made up her mind, saying “there might be a variety of ways we can get there, and we need to be doing everything we can to make that standard higher.” Commissioner Luis Aguilar has been a long supporter of the uniform fiduciary duty if it is as high as the Advisers Act standard. He is quoted as saying “there’s very little doubt that people doing the same job should be held to the same standard.”

Clearly harmonization is not going to be finalized anytime soon when the Commissioners don’t know what it even means. Harmonization has not been on the SEC’s agenda, and it appears they are being pressured to move on an issue that has been outstanding for years.

Mr. Aguilar’s statement, on its face, seems to make sense, but none of the Commissioners see that there is a problem in the fact that broker-dealers and investment advisers are “doing the same job.” We couldn’t agree more with that notion. That is why broker-dealers providing investment advice should be registered as investment advisers. Problem solved. And the rules are already in place to implement the changes… it’s called enforcing the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Justin Richter, a 32-year-old advisor has moved between three different firms over the past 1o years. This quick turnaround may seem strange to an older generation of advisors, but Brian Hamburger uncovers the underlying truth about the younger generation:

Brian Hamburger, founder of MarketCounsel, argues that while older advisors tend to be at one firm for years, if not decades, younger advisors are eager to move around until they find the best fit.

“It’s a generational issue,” he says. “Young people don’t see turnover the same. They tend to think that sometimes you need to actually move to affect change.”

Hamburger says “multiple moves close on each other’s heels are ‘much more common’ than they used to be, especially with younger advisors.”

Additionally, Brian identifies a new ease of getting a strategic message out to clients about these moves:

“If they message it right, the clients will follow,” he says. “We’re seeing it in record numbers.”

“It’s all in the way advisors message themselves. Younger advisors — as opposed to old-school wirehouse guys — are more like to get across to their clients that ‘I’m your guy, regardless of what firm I’m at,’” says Hamburger. The shift away from a wirehouse mentality has an added benefit for the traveling advisor. “Ten years ago,” says Hamburger, “if an advisor was going from one wirehouse to another, clients generally knew or suspected that it was because of compensation. Now, there’s a sense that the move might be prompted, at least in part, because it’s in their best interest. That’s much more effective messaging.”

“Now, you can talk about the fact that you moved to a new firm on social media or on your blog. You can update your LinkedIn and your connections will see that change.”

“There’s a number of different ways you can announce it to the world,” says Hamburger.

On December 11 at the MarketCounsel Summit, Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank came together for the first time on stage to discuss and defend their historic Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Some memorable takeaways from the conversation:

“People have been declaring Armageddon and coming up with doomsday scenarios in all of this,” Dodd said. “My experience has been that institutions manage just fine.”

“I sometimes feel we have more confidence in the free market than the [industry] people out there,” said Frank.

The industry should “give a chance for the regulations to work a bit, and I think over the next three years that will be case,” [Dodd] said. “That will give us a chance to settle in and see what’s working or not working…. I’m quite confident that a future Congress will look at this and ask if it’s working right and make improvements.”

The MarketCounsel Summit kicks off with it’s own President and CEO, Brian Hamburger, firing questions at his executive panel. While many opinions and ideas were shared, Sharron Ash’s remarks seemed to really stick with Brooke Southall, RIABiz:

MarketCounsel’s chief litgation attorney, Sharon Ash, stated flatly that the Broker Protocol is endangered by the fact that even one wirehouse pulling out could deal a crippling blow. “It’s voluntary. So how do you amend it?” she asked.

Ash also commented on a rash of SEC actions that resulted in settlements. She points out the obvious upside — and downside.

“You hope that it has a chilling effect,” she says.“The loss is that these are quick and it just comes down to a business decision on the part of the advisor. So while there’s a lots of fanfare, there’s no meat on it.”

MarketCounsel revealed the all-star roster of speakers and topics for its 6th annual MarketCounsel Summit throughout this month. Now, they announce that they have assembled many of the industry’s top service providers in support of the event, including leading brokerage, custody, technology, practice management, and other service providers. The MarketCounsel Summit is scheduled for December 10 – 13, 2013 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Each year we set out to provide a platform to host to compelling discussions about the most provocative issues affecting today’s independent investment adviser,” said Brian Hamburger, MarketCounsel’s president and chief executive officer. “That conversation would be incomplete without meaningful participation from both the industry heavyweights right alongside its new and emerging platforms. It’s a remarkable community we have assembled,” he continued.

MarketCounsel released the core of its 6th annual Summit agenda two weeks ago. Now they release the event’s additional general and breakout sessions, resulting in three packed days of meaningful conversation for the independent investment adviser industry. The MarketCounsel Summit is scheduled for December 10 – 13, 2013 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“The topics reflect a combination of what advisers tell us they want to hear with topics we want them to hear about,” said Brian Hamburger, MarketCounsel’s president and chief executive officer. “The speakers and faculty of this MarketCounsel Summit include some of the most intriguing thought leaders and successful investment advisers ever assembled and it’s an honor that they have chosen to come together at our event,” concluded Hamburger.

The IARD website has now posted the 2013 year-end IARD Availability Schedule. The IARD system will begin working on an abbreviated schedule effective December 24, 2013, and December 26 will be the last day that firms may submit regulatory filings prior to year-end. The system will become fully functional again effective January 2, 2014. Accordingly, transitioning advisors should evaluate this schedule as part of their exit strategy and planning process.